While the vast majority of A/P departments remain mired in a manually-intensive, thoroughly paper-based world, the new report from Aberdeen, a Harte-Hanks Company (NYSE:HHS), "Accounts Payable: Strategies for Success," report shows that best-in-class enterprises are hyper-efficient in processing invoices and are able to optimize cash flow while building and maintaining strong supplier relationships.

For these leaders, outsourcing and automation are the key enablers to success. Still, most accounts payable departments continue to operate on the fringe of the source-to-settle process, with poorly defined processes and with little or no visibility into the valuable payment and supplier data that is processed by the department.

"A very deliberate plan is required to effectively transform an antiquated A/P department into an efficient ’21st century’ function. Enterprises that automate the function see almost instant savings, while those that outsource their A/P operations see an additional 8% in overall savings," says Andrew Bartolini, Research Director of Aberdeen Global Supply Management research and report co-author.

The role of procurement continues to increase in strategic importance within the enterprise as a greater awareness of the bottom-line value that the function can deliver becomes more evident. This is especially true when procurement is closely linked with finance and A/P in support of the source- to-settle process.

  Outsourcing is an emerging strategy:
  Enterprises that outsource report cost savings approaching 10% for all invoice processing.
  20% of enterprises currently outsource some part of their A/P operations.
  A/P automation offers compelling returns but is not widely adopted:
  Electronic invoices cost between 68% - 76% less to process.
  22.7% of invoices are received electronically.

This report is made available to the public, in part, by the underwriting support of PowerTrack, API Outsourcing Inc., Esker, Metafile, SourceNet Solutions, and ACS. To download a complimentary copy of "Accounts Payable: Strategies for Success," please visit: www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?c...

Other IT news about Aberdeen Group